


Home Is Where the Heart Is

by Lasvegas056



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Road Trip, a tiny bit of angst, meet the parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-22
Updated: 2017-03-22
Packaged: 2018-10-08 07:14:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10381380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lasvegas056/pseuds/Lasvegas056
Summary: Alex and Maggie go on a road trip to Midvale and Maggie meets Eliza for the first time ft. silly road trip games and more!





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [playlike-agirl (playlikeagirl)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/playlikeagirl/gifts).



> Happy birthday Siân! Wishing you all the best wishes on your birthday and I'm sending you so much birthday cheer!!! Enjoy :)!

“Alex! Where are my…”

“Your keys are clipped to your bag.”

“And my…”

“Your shoes are under the couch”

“Why are my shoes under the couch? Ugh, never mind! Are the…”

“I just put the snacks in the car.”

“Even my…”

“Yes, even your tofurkey sandwich! And the water. And the M&Ms. And the oranges, chips, and cookies. You filled the tank last night _and_ charged the iPod. Kara has all the instructions for housesitting, even how to trim your bonsai tree. We’re ready to go, Mags, I promise. ”

Maggie took a deep breath and slung her backpack over her shoulder, looking around their apartment one last time. Alex gave her a reassuring hug before turning off the lights and locking their door before heading down to the garage. With their overnight packs stowed in the trunk and the food at Maggie’s feet, Alex backed out of their parking space and exited the garage.

The drive to Midvale was about five hours. Thirty minutes into the playlist they’d made on their fifth date, Maggie poked Alex’s shoulder and whined, “More coffee! Please can we get more coffee?!” She batted her eyelashes to the beat of “The Greatest” by Sia.  

“Well if someone hadn’t waited until the last minute to pack, maybe you would have gotten more sleep,” Alex said with smirk.

“If someone wasn’t so damn distracting and attractive, maybe I would have packed in a more timely manner,” Maggie fired back. They stopped for coffee, of course. Alex got her usual wet cappuccino and Maggie got a vanilla bean frappuccino with two shots of espresso.

***

When they got back on the road, Maggie broke into the snacks.  She gradually slipped M&Ms to Alex so that her girlfriend could focus on driving, while Maggie herself methodically munched on chip after chip.  Alex asked, “What’s up, honey? You’re doing that thing where you nibble loudly. You do that when you’re stressed.”

Maggie continued to “nibble loudly” for a moment before sighing and saying, “What if your mom doesn’t like me?”

Alex moved one hand from the wheel to Maggie’s thigh, squeezing gently. “Oh honey. What’s not to like? Hell, what’s not to love?!

“You’ve changed so much recently from your mom’s perspective.  She _just_ found out that you’re a DEO agent, and you _just_ came out to her.  And now we’re living together! What if your mom just sees me as a symbol of how you’re not her little girl anymore?!”  Maggie returned to her stress-munching.

“I was a DEO agent _and_ a lesbian before I met you - even if I didn’t know about the lesbian part.  My mom and I have some rough history, but we’ve had a few good conversations since Kara became Supergirl.  I think she’s taking everything in stride...as best she can.”  Maggie chuckled at Alex’s understatement. Alex smiled and continued, “I won’t leave your side, I promise. And what if we come up with a system, hmm? Like if you’re feeling overwhelmed just say...bananas and I’ll execute an escape plan!

“Bananas? Really, that’s the word you pick? How am I supposed to slip that into conversation?”

“We can pick a different word, but the point and sentiment stand!”

“Should we even tell your mom that we’re living together?” Maggie asked with lingering panic.

“She won’t think to ask about something she doesn’t know about, right? She’ll just ask you about work and being a lady detective. You know, that kind of stuff. I mean, maybe she’ll ask you a little bit about Nebraska, but I’ve told her there are some unhappy memories associated with your childhood there so I think she’ll respect that and tread lightly.”

Feeling much calmer and grateful for Alex’s protectiveness, Maggie said, “Now, I have a much more important question. Are we there yet, Al? I’m so bored!”

“Oh my god, Mags, really? You were the one that was so excited about _driving_ down to Midvale! I wanted to fly!”

“I’d never been on a road trip! It sounded like so much fun!”

“Snacks, a killer playlist, and your smoking hot girlfriend isn’t fun enough?”

Maggie beamed at Alex’s growing confidence, being much more accustomed to Alex stammering through every romantic sentence. “What about a game? Know any good road trip games?”

“Of course you’d want to play a game! There’s one we used to play when we’d drive to the snow. You get points for spotting license plates from different states. Once you’ve found a state, that state can’t be used for another point. For example, there’s a California plate in front of us. One point for me and you can’t claim California so you have to find a plate from one of the 49 other states.”

“Game on, Danvers! Oh! Arkansas! They’re a long way from home!”

“New York. I’ve always wanted to see a show on Broadway!”

“Maybe we can _fly_ to New York for our next vacation?”

“Should we make this interesting, Sawyer? Winner gets to choose TV and takeout choices for a month!”

“You’re on, Al!”

They continued playing as they drove. Maggie’s eyes lit up every time she spotted a new license plate. Maggie was ahead but they were still 45 minutes away. Alex was at a disadvantage given her responsibility to keep all four wheels firmly on the asphalt.

Maggie maintained her lead as Alex exited the highway and began navigating the smaller side streets. The score was close—Maggie had found eight different states while Alex had found seven. Maggie was already celebrating her win and planning the best way to drop the news that Alex would be watching all thirteen seasons of _Grey’s Anatomy_ and eating all the Chinese and Mexican take out that was available within their delivery radius. Maggie was so lost in thought, imagining her epic month of TV and takeout dominance that she barely heard Alex yell out Michigan and shortly thereafter Wyoming before pulling into Eliza’s driveway thus ending the game.

As the final score dawned on Maggie, she sputtered, “Whoa! What? No! How did this happen?”

“Well, I think this shows that _you_ were too fixated on scanning every license plate on the highway to hear my story about my next-door neighbors who kept their Michigan and Wyoming plates because they found California’s too boring. So, get ready to watch _The L Word_ and eat Italian takeout for a month, cause I won!”

“Ugh! God damn! It’s a good thing you’re adorable and I love you because I don’t know how else I’m gonna survive rewatching _The L Word._ I mean, who doesn’t want to watch six seasons of Jenny Schecter being the fucking worst and eat Italian takeout, something I could easily make for you and good God woman, how much cream sauce can a person really ingest before it’s too much?” Maggie said all of this in one breath.

“Oh come on! You love Shane and Carmen and I never got to enjoy the _The L Word_ because I didn’t come out as early as you. And cream sauce is the best! You can enjoy your pesto and maybe if you’re nice we can get you some tiramisu! Plus, I won, fair and square!”

As Maggie accepted her loss, she looked around and took stock of the medium-sized house with a beautiful porch and well-manicured lawn. Before she could even exit the parked car, Maggie heard the screen door open and close and saw a blond, slightly older Alex walking towards them. Maggie and Alex hustled out of the car. The woman crossed the yard and hugged her daughter.

*** 

Maggie grabbed their bags from the trunk and stood off to the side unsure how to act around her girlfriend’s mother. Was she expected to hug her? Shake her hand? It had been years since she’d met someone’s parents and that hadn’t gone terribly well so she was back in uncharted territory.

Thankfully for Maggie, Eliza made the decision for the both of them. She turned to face Maggie and said, “You must be Maggie. It’s so nice to meet you” as she pulled her into a hug. “Come on, let’s get you two settled. I’m sure it’s been a long day for the two of you.”

They had made good time, arriving just in time for a late lunch. As they entered the house, Maggie took stock of her surroundings and excitedly investigated every clue to Alex Danvers’ past. Already she had found several photos that she was _dying_ to take a closer look at.

Eliza broke the silence, “Alex, Honey, why don’t you take both your bags upstairs to your room and Maggie can help me set out lunch.”

Alex gave Maggie a look meant to say “I don’t want to leave you but I’m not sure I can get out of this.” Maggie gave Alex an inconspicuous nod to show that she understood that Alex wasn’t purposefully breaking her promise to stay by her side.

Alex grabbed their bags and all but bolted up the steps. She threw their bags onto the bed and bounded down the stairs. She got to the kitchen as fast as humanly possible, but Maggie had already become trapped in what looked like an uncomfortable conversation with Eliza. Alex shot her an apologetic look over Eliza’s shoulder before sitting down on the bar stool next to Maggie.

“Lunch smells great mom. I’m starving!” Alex said hoping to change the subject and distract from whatever uncomfortable conversation had occurred in her absence.

“Oh thanks Sweetie, but they’re just sandwiches and from Kara’s stories, it sounds like Maggie cooks you some great meals...quite frequently.” The moment Eliza finished her sentence, Alex knew Eliza was returning to the conversation that had started while she was away but she wasn’t sure of enough of what had happened to know how to avoid making the situation worse. How could sandwiches be such a stressful topic?!

As if Maggie could hear Alex’s panicked thoughts, she filled Alex in, “Your mom was asking how we manage shuffling between our two places...”

“Oh um, Mom, Maggie and I moved in together. We’ve been living together for the past six weeks.” Alex wrapped her arm around Maggie as a show of affection and commitment for Eliza, and as a gesture of reassurance and protection for Maggie.  

“Oh, my Alexandra, I’m so happy for you. And you too Maggie, dear. I’d like to get you a housewarming present, so please let me know what would be a helpful addition to your home.” Eliza turned her attention to Maggie, “Maggie, does Alex still hide her dirty clothes behind the bathroom door when the hamper is just a couple of feet away? When Alex was younger, I’d always have to remember to check behind the door to the girls’ bathroom and I’d always find a pile of Alex’s clothes there.”

“Aww babe! You haven’t changed at all. Well, except now you do the laundry so you can do whatever you want as long as I continue to enjoy my clean clothes with minimal labor.”

“Well as long as you continue to feed me, Sawyer, you have yourself a deal!” Alex said, happy to pivot towards embarrassing Alex stories, something she was prepared to handle.

Alex loved how easy everything was with Maggie. The ease with which they had built a life together and moved through the world. And it was so easy to get lost in her face. In her beauty. In her love.

***

The rest of the afternoon was spent looking at old photos and telling stories about baby and little Alex. Alex was shocked with how not terrible all of this was—having Maggie hear about her childhood and seeing the grin plastered on Maggie’s face was well worth the tiny bits of embarrassment she felt during certain parts of certain stories. Those stories may or may not have included that time Alex had streaked her hair during her punk rock phase. Or the time she was caught at 3am building a baking soda and vinegar volcano but instead of using such boring reactants she had grabbed random chemicals around the house, including one in an unmarked bottled from Jeremiah’s study, curious to see what would happen. The result caused a loud boom to emanate from her room waking her parents. And shortly thereafter, two men in black showed up at the Danvers’ residence inquiring about the audible boom that had occurred at 3:00am. It wasn’t until her interview with the DEO that she realized that 12 year old Alex had used an alien chemical in that experiment.

As the stories continued, Maggie’s grin grew wider and wider and Alex had perfected her “really mom?” and “come on, didn’t you do that as a kid?”

They had become so engrossed in stories about Alex’s childhood that dinner was the last thing on anyone’s mind. It wasn’t until there was a large gust of wind that turned out to be Kara taming her wind blown hair and asking, “So, what’s for dinner?”

Alex broke the stunned silence, “Uh… Kara? What are you doing here?”

Kara adjusted her glasses and chuckled nervously, clearly not having thought about this conversation. “Umm, I was in the neighborhood and thought I might stop in for some of Eliza’s galaxy famous chocolate pecan pie?”

“Uh huh. You sure you’re not here to see how dinner is going?” Alex said shooting a knowing look at Kara.

Alex looked at Maggie who shrugged and then to her mom who had busied herself in the kitchen oblivious to the antics happening in the living room. Alex searched the room for a sympathetic face or really any acknowledgement that Kara had wormed her way into this dinner but found no such thing. She threw hear arms up in resignation and yelled to the kitchen, “I hope you’re cooking enough for the US Women’s National Team, with Kara here you’ll need to!”

Before they knew it, Eliza had whipped up a delicious lasagna that had Maggie singing its praises and quietly begging Alex to get the recipe. Kara shared some more stories about young Alex including how they used to play secret agent complete with fake night vision goggles. That story resulted in Maggie laughing so hard that she fell out of her chair and Alex throwing dinner rolls at Kara. Once they had recovered they cleared the table and put away the small amount of leftovers. Kara suggested watching a movie but Alex was exhausted after the long drive and family interactions and from the looks of things Maggie felt the same way.

“Sorry, Kar. I’m wiped. Maybe tomorrow? You and mom should watch one of those rom coms you love so much.” Alex said stifling a yawn.

“Good night Eliza. Thank you for such wonderful meals and company,” Maggie said grabbing Alex’s hand ready to spend some time alone with her girlfriend.

“Sleep well girls. Alex, don’t forget there are extra blankets…”

“…In the closet by the laundry room. I remember mom. Sleep well and see you in the morning!” Alex finished.

“So, Danvers. Ready for me to see your room?” Maggie said with a grin.

It had been a while since Alex had visited her childhood home in Midvale. With her busy and erratic schedule at the DEO, Eliza had taken to flying to National City for the holidays. Alex braced herself for whatever they were about to stumble upon. They reached the landing and continued down the hallway—passing Kara’s door plastered with pictures of N*SYNC and the Backstreet Boys.

Maggie tried to stifle a laugh as they reached Alex’s door, covered in caution tape and keep out signs. “Is this where I should be worried or be surprised that you became an agent dating a detective?” she managed to get out pushing the door open to bask an otherwise sparsely decorated room.

“Shut up! It was a thing! And you know, clearly I had lots of late night experiments that required privacy!”

“No judgement. But do I need to bring home some ‘Police Line Do Not Cross’ tape from work for our apartment?” Maggie asked with her classic shit eating grin.

“No, but there are other things that you could bring home from work that I might enjoy more,” Alex said with a wink.

Almost immediately Alex’s phone pinged and a text from Kara appeared.

Kara: _UGHHH things I wish I could unhear: that!_

Alex laughed, showing the text to Maggie who also laughed. She had become familiar with both the advantages and disadvantages for Kara’s superpowers and sometimes forgoing sex due to Kara’s proximity was one of those disadvantages. And if Maggie was being honest, she wasn’t sure how comfortable she was having sex with the potential to be overheard by Eliza.

With the change in evening plans, Maggie continued to glance around the room. Aside from the furniture, there were no real decorations inside the room excluding science fair ribbons and… trophies? “Danvers, I didn’t know you surfed competitively! What a badass!”

“I started surfing to escape, you know. I was able to lose myself in the ocean, just focusing on riding the waves. And that rush of the perfect wave made me feel so alive, made me feel like I was flying. It was so quiet and perfect. It was one of the few times I was able to relax. But then when I was 14 I entered some competitions and the competitions gave me focus and it was fun to see how far I could push myself. And I guess I got pretty good,” Alex said picking up on of her trophies.

“Pretty good? It seems like you kicked ass!”

“Would you want to go surfing while we’re here? You could use Kara’s old board. She didn’t really take to surfing.”

“I’d love to! But I make no promises about the level of success.”

They changed into their pajamas, brushed their teeth, and crawled into bed. Alex pulled out the latest issue of her favorite medical journal while Maggie was reading her favorite Agatha Christie novel, _Murder is Easy._ Alex looked over to see what Maggie was reading and laughed.

“Yea, yeah. I’m a detective, and I detect things and I like novels that do the same. But right now I’m detecting that Agent Snuggles over here is angling for some snuggles.”

“That’s Doctor Doctor Agent Snuggles to you, babe,” Alex said taking off her reading glasses and nuzzling into Maggie’s shoulder. Maggie continued reading for a while, careful not to disturb her sleeping girlfriend.

***

At 4am Maggie was woken by Alex’s blaring alarm. She flailed around for a bit desperate to make the noise stop only to be greeted by Alex holding a cup of coffee saying, “rise and shine sleepyhead we’re going surfing!”

“Now? It’s like sleeping time!”

“Nope, the best waves are now. Drink your coffee and eat your bagel—it’s double toasted just the way you like it, even though gross! And get dressed! You have 30 minutes.”

Maggie groaned and started in on the bagel and coffee. After she finished she put on the bikini and wetsuit that Alex had set out for her.

“Al. How are you awake? It’s sooooo early!”

“I’m excited! I have been surfing in ages and never with someone as beautiful as you.”

“Such a charmer, even at the crack of dawn. Also, I’m stuck. Help!”

Alex helped Maggie into the wetsuit and the pair headed to the garage to grab their boards before heading to the beach. It wasn’t long until they reached the beach. Alex planted the boards in the sand and gave Maggie a rundown of what to expect and they practiced getting up on the board a couple of times. Once it seemed like Maggie had the hang of it, Alex gestured towards to ocean and said, “ready?”

They paddled out past the surf and waited in what Alex referred to as the _biggest swimming pool ever_ and waited for a wave. It didn’t take long until Alex was jumping up and down, shouting “take this wave. It’s perfect for you! Paddle Mags, paddle!”

Maggie surged forward forward and began paddling furiously. Suddenly, Alex was yelling, “stand up Mags! You got this!” Maggie pressed up, slowly rising to her feet. She’d done it she was standing!

“I did it!” she called out, hoping Alex could hear her. The standing lasted about 15 seconds before she lost her balance and tumbled of her board. Within seconds, Alex was by her side helping her get back on the board and pulling her towards the shore. As Maggie caught her breath, Alex pulled her into a giant hug and covered her with kisses and showering her with _you were amazing and I’m so proud of you and god you’re so hot._

They paddled back out past the surf and floated watching the sunrise.

“I don’t get up at 4am for just anyone, ya know.”

“I don’t commit bagel sacrilege by double toasting bagels for just anyone.”

“Just say, ‘I love you too,’ Al,” Maggie said splashing Alex.

They kept splashing around until Alex noticed Eliza and Kara walking towards them. They paddled back to shore where they were greeted by Eliza and Alex and a second breakfast. After breakfast they packed up the car and Maggie hopped into the driver’s seat ready to begin the drive back home. Shortly after they were on the road, Alex’s phone pinged. She unlocked her phone and found a photo of Alex and Maggie on their surfboards with the sunrise in the background. Below the photo was a message that said, _be your own kind of beautiful <3\. Tell Maggie I say welcome to the family. Have a safe drive home and remember, home is where the heart is. _


End file.
